Malaysia has set a target of 1.7m metric tonnes for marine fishery production and 800,000 tonnes for aquaculture production to meet rising domestic demand by 2020. Malaysian fisheries director general Datuk Ahmad Sabki Mahmud said that: "In 2011, production from marine fishery was 1.3m tonnes while aquaculture production was 400,000 tonnes.” (Bernama)
Shares on Bursa Malaysia continued to attract foreign buyers last week with RM162m worth of stocks purchased against RM433m bought the week before, said MIDF Research. It was the ninth consecutive week of foreign buying and Malaysian stocks had overtaken Thailand as the region's biggest net beneficiary of foreign investment in equity for the year until last week. During the same period, Malaysia recorded a RM2.48bn inflow compared with Thailand's RM2.47bn while the cumulative net purchase of Bursa-listed shares by foreigners amounted to RM22.8bn since Jan 2010. (Bernama)
The Employees Provident Fund (EPF) expects to invest up to 23% of its investment assets in the international markets, intensifying its investments in global equity and fixed income. Chairman Tan Sri Samsudin Osman said that performance in global equity and fixed income had generated good earnings for its members in 2011 and contributed to the EPF declaring a 6% dividend and total dividend payout of RM24.47bn. Last year, an additional US$5.54bn worth of investments in overseas investment mandates were made and cumulatively, the total capital drawdown in non-Ringgit investments as at year-end 2011 was approximately US$17bn. As at 21 Dec 2011, the fund's total exposure in global investment assets (in terms of cost) was 13.37% of total assets. (Bernama)
India: RBI signals fastest BRIC inflation constrains rate cuts
India's central bank said price pressures must be restrained even as policy needs to shift to help growth, signaling that elevated inflation will limit the magnitude of interest-rate cuts forecast. “Monetary policy has to recognize the need for keeping inflation expectations anchored in an environment of significant upside risks to inflation, while shifting the balance of policy to arrest the deceleration in growth momentum,” the Reserve Bank of India said yesterday in a review of the economy ahead of its rate decision in Mumbai due today. (Bloomberg)
India’s wholesale price index moderated to 6.89% yoy in Mar from 6.95% in Feb, but remains above consensus expectations of a 6.7% rise. (AFP)
The Reserve Bank of India is committed to gradually open the country's capital account fully, but fiscal consolidation is a key pre-condition for such liberalization, Governor Duvvuri Subbarao said. The bank further added that the country must restrain price pressures even as monetary policy needs to shift towards bolstering growth. (WSJ, Bloomberg)
India must restrain price pressures even as monetary policy needs to shift toward bolstering growth, the central bank said. “Monetary policy has to recognize the need for keeping inflation expectations anchored in an environment of significant upside risks to inflation, while shifting the balance of policy to arrest the deceleration in growth momentum,” the Reserve Bank of India said in a review of the economy ahead of its rate decision today. (Bloomberg)
The IMF has cautioned commodity-exporting countries like Indonesia that they could face a tough time in the short term as global commodity prices are forecast to decline. (The Jakarta Globe)
The Bank of Korea lowered its growth projection for 2012 to 3.5% (3.7% previously estimated in Dec), whilst goods exports will increase 4.8% this year (5.0% earlier forecast). (AFP)
Japanese nationwide department-store sales rose 14.1% yoy in Mar (-0.4% in Feb). (Bloomberg)
EU: Seeks bigger IMF war chest on Spanish concerns
European officials travel to Washington this week seeking a bigger global war chest to combat the debt crisis as Spain’s government battles to quell renewed market turmoil over its finances. Three weeks after European leaders unveiled emergency euro-area funding exceeding the symbolic USD1trn mark, concerns about Spain’s position have ratcheted the nation’s borrowing costs to the highest levels this year. Crisis-fighting resources will dominate talks at the International Monetary Fund’s spring meeting in Washington from 20-22 April. (Bloomberg)
World: Kim is chosen to head World Bank, extending US monopoly
Jim Yong Kim was chosen to be president of the World Bank, becoming the first physician and Asian-American to head the lender after emerging markets failed to rally around a challenger to the US monopoly on the job. The World Bank board of directors said it chose Dartmouth College President Kim to succeed Robert Zoellick, whose term ends 30 June. (Bloomberg)
US: Retail sales climb more than forecast on jobs
Retail sales in the US rose more than forecast in March as Americans snapped up everything from cars and furniture to clothes and electronics. The 0.8% gain was almost three times as large as projected and followed a 1% advance in February, Commerce Department figures showed. An improving job market is giving households confidence to sustain spending in the face of higher gasoline costs, boosting sales at chains such as Gap Inc. and Target Corp. Strengthening consumer demand raises the odds that the world’s largest economy will weather a recession in Europe and slower growth in China. (Bloomberg)
US: Confidence among homebuilders fell in April to a three-month low
The National Association of Home Builders/ Wells Fargo index of builder confidence decreased to 25 this month from 28 in March, the Washington-based group said yesterday. Economists projected no change in the index, according to the median forecast in a Bloomberg News survey. (Bloomberg)
US: Companies boosted inventories in February as sales rose
Companies in the US increased inventories in February as sales picked up, indicating factories will probably keep receiving orders as businesses rebuild stocks. The 0.6% rise followed a revised 0.8% advance the prior month, the Commerce Department reported yesterday in Washington. The median projection in a Bloomberg News survey called for a 0.6% gain. Sales climbed 0.7% after a 0.4% gain in January. (Bloomberg)
The US economy is in a better position to deal with high gasoline prices, Treasury Secretary Timothy Geithner said, adding that unseasonably warm winter had lowered overall energy costs for consumers. (Reuters)
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